The NBA and its wild rash of streaks

It seems like there’s a bigger imbalance between the really good teams and the bad teams in the NBA this season than ever before.

Take a look at the current standings. Three teams have current winning streaks of four games or more: Chicago (6), Dallas (6) and Memphis (4).

And there are a rash of teams with long losing streaks as well. Cleveland is on the verge of making history with a 22-game losing streak. Toronto has lost 13 games in a row. Washington has dropped six straight games and Detroit has four games.

The Spurs’ season has been dotted with winning streaks this season. The Spurs have notched a 12-game winning streak, a 10-game winning streak, an eight-game winning streak, a four-game winning streak and a three-game winning streak.

Boston, the East Division’s streak, has a 14-game streak, a pair of five-game winning streak, a four-game winning streak and a three-game winning streak this season.

But all of these streaks pale — at least chronologically — by the streak that Phoenix extended against Milwaukee Wednesday night.

It’s the second-worst active skid in the NBA, behind Golden State’s 25 straight losses in San Antonio. But since the Warriors and Spurs play more often playing in the same conference, the Bucks’ streak is much longer chronologically. Milwaukee last won in Phoenix on Feb. 21, 1987 — a current span of 8,383 days.

Here’s another idea how long that span has gone. The Bucks’ streak has spanned five United States presidents. Nine different Milwaukee coaches have lost in Phoenix since Don Nelson last beat the Suns in 1987. John Lucas, Terry Cummings, Jack Sikma, Paul Pressey and Sidney Moncrief were in the Bucks’ starting lineup for that last victory in Phoenix. Larry Nance, Walter Davis, Mike Sanders, Jay Humphries and Ed Pinckney started for the Suns.

Three of the players who played in last night’s game — Robin Lopez, Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova — were not born the last time the Bucks won in Phoenix.